This is my first time on the forums so I apologize if this is something that's been discussed before or if I'm posting this in the wrong place. I've been reading through the various specialties in Deathwatch and is it just me or does the Librarian seem a bit weak as a Psyker?

Characters built from the other two setting books start with 13,000 total xp which means that in theory my Librarian should be the rough equivalent of an Imperial Psyker/Inquisitor or in a more extreme case an Imperial Psyker/Tainted Psyker/Inquisitor, heck even an Imperial Psyker/Primaris Psyker. Am I not seeing something or is the Librarian just not the genetically enhanced super Psyker they're cracked up to be?

They aren't the same power levels of those because not all of a starting Librarian's skills have been pumped into psychic powers and abilities. Those 13,000 XP also cover all the skills, abilities and traits of an ordinary Space Marine.

So no, a starting Librarian shouldn't be the equal of a Psyker Primaris or an Inquisitor Psyker, as those are some of the most powerful psykers in the Imperium. They should instead be the equal of the other Space Marine Specialities, which are the specialities that it is meant to be balanced against, and it is.

Hit me, but I don't see them as weak........At least DH psykers get the high damage powers only later in their career (if they don't have any psy enhancing backgrounds, mutations,...). And the Librarian can make a 3d10 attack that automatically succeeds (even if it can cause psychic phenomena), while
the DH characters must roll against a threshold to even be able to do 1d10 of damage.

Librarians are specialty psykers berd and trained for one thing: Combat Support.

They can push out huge amounts of damage, protect their brothers-in-arms and they can get telepathy (up to the level of Astrotelepathy) to coordinate orbital bombardment and reinforcements. They were never supposed to be anything more than that. But also nothing less. I think DW rules cover what Librariians are pretty well.

Polaria said:

They are combat mages, not arch mages.

Alex